April has certainly been the cruelest month for blogging. I've been assiduously studying for my Certificate exam in St. Louis next month, and the break down of a wine for the purposes of blind tasting is not the same as the relaxed appreciation of a wine by any means. Unlike some of my friends, I look for basic descriptors when tasting for varietal, vintage and region, and tend to avoid poetry in my breakdown of the wines I've been tasting. I've been trying to form sense pictures of the most prevalent international varieties, noting acidity, alcohol, tannin and wood, rather than searching for the ways in which a specific wine showcases its own personality in the glass. This doesn't mean I haven't tried some wonderful wines.
One VDQS I've been particularly captured by is Fiefs Vendeens. I love the VDQS system, which allows atypical regional wines within the AOC hierarchy to be recognized and marketed. The Domaine St. Nicolas 2004 Fiefs Vendeens is from the Pays Nantais, but it's not Muscadet, but rather a dry, complex Chenin Blanc, more reminiscent of Touraine in it's style. Not bone-dry and acidic like Savenierres, but full of canteloupe, nectarine and Anjou pear, with a chalky, crushed-rock minerality and chamomile and candied ginger palate. This is the kind of wine that rewards study. I'd never have considered picking it up, were I not immersed in the Loire right now, trying to put all of its various appellations on the tip of my tongue.
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